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A518 tranny? Good or bad

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Old Mar 6, 2007 | 02:28 PM
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Question A518 tranny? Good or bad

whats up with this transmission? Is it crap? how high can I go with this thing? what kind of TC would be on it? I want to pull a camper but nothing big. Whats some good (cheap) upgrades for this transmission??
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Old Mar 6, 2007 | 03:03 PM
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You would actually have the A618 (47RE)... The cheapest thing would be a Trans-Go shift kit. Though to keep it around $50 you would have to be comfortable with removing your VB and doing some modification(s). Otherwise it starts getting a little bit more spendy. Just drop me a PM if you want to know how to get some parts to build a budget transmission that would be good for ~900ft lbs
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Old Mar 6, 2007 | 10:34 PM
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would it be an A518 if it were a 2500? When I run the vin# it says its a 2500 and there was an aamco recipt in the glove box that said transmission type A518??? When the P/O painted it he could have put 3500 decals on ....no? Ok, now if this is true would the A618 be an up grade?? Also whats a good TC for towing lite camper?
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Old Mar 6, 2007 | 11:29 PM
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From: Menomonie, Wisconsin
Originally Posted by svoco-op
would it be an A518 if it were a 2500? When I run the vin# it says its a 2500 and there was an aamco receipt in the glove box that said transmission type A518??? When the P/O painted it he could have put 3500 decals on ....no? Ok, now if this is true would the A618 be an up grade?? Also whats a good TC for towing lite camper?
A518's were put behind V8 gas engines in the 2500/3500's. The A618 is for the 5.9 I6 and the 8.0 V10... If you plan on only doing light bombs (900 ft lbs torque max and/or 12.5k GTW) a single disc and a trans-go shift kit would be perfectly fine.
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Old Mar 7, 2007 | 11:18 AM
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so the aamco receipt in the glove box is wrong? Or could the swap have been made? would the a518 for a gas v8 handel a cummins? I'm not doing any mods except for an svo conversion for now. but I plan to tow this camper around this summer..but i haven't bought it yet... and I don't yet know how much it will weigh....so I don't know if I can get away with stock. Will have to get the truck dyno tested I guess?
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Old Mar 7, 2007 | 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by svoco-op
so the aamco receipt in the glove box is wrong? Or could the swap have been made? would the a518 for a gas v8 handel a cummins? I'm not doing any mods except for an svo conversion for now. but I plan to tow this camper around this summer..but i haven't bought it yet... and I don't yet know how much it will weigh....so I don't know if I can get away with stock. Will have to get the truck dyno tested I guess?
The reciept must be for another truck... The A518 does not have the proper bell housing dimensions or patern to mate up to the Cummins or the V10. Nor do automatics have interchangeable bell housings so that rules that out. $600 would get you all you need to tow light/medium loads without worries. Dyno testing won't yield you much other than knowing how healthy your engine is.
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Old Mar 7, 2007 | 08:16 PM
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Originally Posted by ckt_santiago
The reciept must be for another truck... The A518 does not have the proper bell housing dimensions or patern to mate up to the Cummins or the V10. Nor do automatics have interchangeable bell housings so that rules that out. $600 would get you all you need to tow light/medium loads without worries. Dyno testing won't yield you much other than knowing how healthy your engine is.
Some automatics have inter-changeable bells..
Well bellhousings that detach.

Anyways. I'd check and see if the planetarys are alum. or steel, if alum replace w/ steel.
Shift kit
TC

and your set.
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Old Mar 8, 2007 | 11:43 AM
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You could have a A518, but I would think that it would be a A618.... if it has a lockup TQ then definitely a A618 as A518's did not have lock out TQ's. I believe many parts are interchangeable between the two.

Either case... with the proper torque converter such as from DTT and DTT valve body, combined with tranny temperature monitoring, you should get plenty of trouble free miles.

HRDROKN
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Old Mar 8, 2007 | 01:05 PM
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duhh

I just realized the aamco shop that did the work is down the road, im calling them to see what they saw when the had it opened up. That'll get to the bottom of this
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